𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐲 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐢 𝐜𝐫𝐲 [ 𝘫. 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘤𝘢𝘮𝘱𝘴 ]

15, vengeance

tw: mentions of past SA and violence

It was three days later, and Joseph hadn't said a word to her.

Frankly, Eponine was worried that nothing had happened and he was just being prissy. But she knew better. Michéle wasn't talking to Simone, Joseph and Michéle were suddenly waving at each other and Michéle had told everyone her Aunt Jeanne was homosexual.

So now, Eponine found herself walking to the nurses office.

She knocked on the door, and waited for Mrs. Bellanger to answer. "Come in," the woman's low voice called out. Eponine nervously pushed open the door.

Mrs. Bellanger had dark circles under her eyes, and looked like she had aged ten years in just three days. She had a cigarette perched between her pointer and her thumb, already burnt up. "What's going on?" She asked. Her voice was obviously exhausted and irritated, glossed over by a fake sweetness. Her eyes twitched.

"I- uh," Eponine stumbled. She didn't know what to say.

Mrs. Bellanger sighed. "Is this about what Michéle said about me? Because I assure you I am not–"

"-I just wanted to tell you I wouldn't think of you differently, ma'am." Eponine interrupted. Mrs. Bellanger's eyes widened in surprise. Then, she smiled. "Thank you, dear. Was there anything I had to help you with?"

Eponine shook her head. "I was going to ask about it, because I think my older brother might be too? I'm not sure but I want to know how I can bring it up without cornering him."

Mathieu was always obsessed with having a picture perfect family. Having a beautiful trophy wife and three kids, and a nice estate. But he was too obsessed. Eventually he started turning his attention from himself to her, and she knew right there and then. At first, she hadn't thought of it as weird. But as time went on, he started acting more and more like their extremely conservative deceased grandfather who turned out to have a male lover from his time in the army. Safe to say their grandmother hated homosexuals after that scandal came out.

Mrs. Bellanger thought for a minute. "You know, I'm not actually homosexual–" *wink* "-so I don't know, but you could try to talk to him alone at a family function? Maybe don't say: "Hey, are you into men?" but more as a "have you found a partner yet?" kind of thing. You get me?"

Eponine quickly made note of that in her mind. "Yes, thank you so much! I'll see what I can do. Have a nice day, Madame!"

"You too, sweetheart."

. . .

During homeroom, Madame Giraud announced that the class would be having music lessons instead of homeroom because she would be absent due to family emergencies.

Eponine's ears perked up, and she smiled slightly. "Maybe you can finally teach me some violin," Simone giggled.

Madame Giraud introduced their new music teacher: Monsieur Dubois. He seemed to be in his thirties, and had a full beard paired with a fancy mustache. "Hello kids! I'll be taking care of your music classes for some time. Together we'll figure out what instrument you are destined to play!" His voice was relatively high pitched and he seemed like a sweet man.

Eponine couldn't wait for music classes to start.

. . .

It had been two weeks, Joseph had yet to acknowledge Eponine. He stuck around his group of friends, not giving Eponine the space to approach him. Whenever she went over to his place for dinners, he would be out with friends. When she called, he would make up an excuse not to talk to her.

"I swear, if this goes on I'll just go up to him with his friends nearby," Eponine grumbled to Simone, who lightly squeezed her shoulder. "We'll be okay, Nine. Give it a little time," the girl said. "What if I'm not patient enough?" Eponine asked defeatedly. Simone tapped her chin. "We'll just have to get some apple pie from the patisserie to make sure you don't make any rash decisions," she proposed. "Hmm, you have a wonderful mind, Sime."